If you have ever downloaded a document on the Internet, you must have realized that it comes in a PDF format. You must also have noticed that it is nearly impossible to edit these documents and that they also need you to have a special reader in order to open them. All this trouble yet almost everybody around the world uses PDF documents to share information with other people. So, why is PDF file format so important? That is the big question that I intend to answer by first stating that PDF files are not popular for no reason. They are popular because they are very good for what they are used to achieve. The team of programmers that created the technology intended it to be used to share data across various computing devices and operating systems without the fear of distortion. You can also visit How to edit PDF files online with free PDF editor.
Let us look at some of the benefits that are associated with PDF documents so that you understand why they are important.
The benefit of using PDF files
In order to make you understand the benefit of using PDF files, I will have to ask a question and build my explanation based on it. So, the question, why shouldn’t we just use DOCX files instead of PDF files? That is an excellent question, but there is only one problem with it. DOCX files would be a good alternative to PDF only if everyone on the planet used DOCX files and had Microsoft Office installed on their computer. In that case, it would be easy for everybody to open DOCX files because they would have Microsoft Office suite or word editor installed on their computer. However, we both know that this perfect situation here where everybody uses Microsoft Office on their Windows Operating System is more of a fantasy than a reality. In reality, people use Unix, Linux, Mac and all other sorts of operating systems. They also use different kinds of word editors that are not compatible with each other.
It means that if you are to create a document for Windows users, you will also have to create a different version of the same document for Unix and Linux users. That is where PDF comes in because it is able to remove incompatibility issues by allowing users to create PDF documents that can be opened on all Operating Systems and computers.
When should you use PDF files?
If you have read through the above section, then you understand that you should use PDF file extension when you are creating a document, but are not sure of the kind of operating system the document will be opened using. For instance, let us assume that you are writing a recipe for people to download on the internet. It is impossible to say for sure what operating system the many users on the internet who will download your recipe will be using. As such, to stay safe, use a universal file document that everybody can access regardless of the operating system they use.
When you shouldn’t use PDF file format
PDF files don’t lend themselves to editing easily. As such, if you intend to create a document that you want other people to edit with ease, you should not use the PDF file format. To edit a PDF file, it may have to be converted to a word file and that requires having a PDF to word converter.
